Grand Finale to Celebrate Ser Mujer and International Women’s Month

SER MUJER

By Carole Schor

On March 24, Ser Mujer and the Center for Global Justice present Sandra Moran at El Sindicato. Join us at 1pm for an intimate conversation with Sandra Moran to learn about her lifelong efforts at stopping violence towards women and working for human rights. Learn why she was exiled for many years from Guatemala. Meet one of the heroines of Latin America at the Sindicato Café, Recreo 4. The free event has limited seating.

Then, at 3pm, join us for a concert with a message: “Stop the Violence, Respect Everyone, Honor Differences, Make the World Safer for All.”

Mariachi Femenil Rosa Mexicano of Queretaro will lead a callejoneada from the Jardín to El Sindicato, where Sandra Moran, a member of the Nobel Women’s Initiative; an elected member of the Guatemalan Congress for the Convergence Party; and a tireless defender of women’s rights will be headlining the concert. Moran uses her drums to get out the “no to violence against women” message. Of all the issues she has taken up, the one closest to her heart is ending the silence surrounding violence against women. Guatemala has the third highest rate of the murder of women in the world. In a society that still regards violence against the LGBT community as legitimate, Moran stands out as a tireless defender of LGBT and women’s rights.

Sandra has also been a fearless champion for indigenous rights and stopping the forced marriages of 11-year-olds who have become pregnant from rape and then forced to marry the rapist. She has been so outspoken that she had to leave her country for a few years for her own safety.

“In Guatemala, to be a feminist is not welcomed, to be a lesbian even less so. But the fact that I have always been transparent about who I am—a lesbian feminist—took away that weapon from those who use misogynist, sexist, and homophobic attacks as a political strategy,” Moran says.

Also appearing will be Yoremum Jocobi, singing traditional Mexican ballads and love songs; Gabriela Perales Betancourt, opera soprano; Frans Bloem, cabaret performer; and The High Desert Rangers, who perform Americana music from the 1940s to the present. Food and beverages will be available for purchase, and several local women’s organizations will have information tables. Suggested donation is 100 pesos, but no one will be turned away. Advance tickets are available at Tesoros at the Biblioteca.